Friday, December 01, 2006

Realism to the core

Had the good fortune of watching "Pather Panchali" by sathyajit ray yesterday. At the same time I ask myself why I hadnt watched it earlier. It really is one of the most realistic films that I have ever watched. Each and every small movement of the "actors" has some meaning. Most of the "actors" were not professionals (only one was a professional)- maybe thats the reason it was so life-like.

At this point, it is interesting to think about the actual skill of acting. I ask myself whether it is conceptually different from other skills such as painting, dance, singing, sculpture. Can any given person "act" well...Afterall acting is something that everybody does all the time. For example, if we had an imaginary camera filming the daily lives of people, certainly the "acting" will be realistic! Ofcourse the skill lies in reacting to situations when the sitautions are imaginary. This is what people like Sivaji, Kamal are good at. But I think this as more of an aptitude rather than skill. If one constantly observes people (or observe ourselves) certainly one can become better at this. Infact, one does not even need to pocess this aptitude to act well. He/She just needs to be taught exactly what he needs to do. I think this is what Satyajit Ray must have done; he must have explained it to the actors in such a fine grained level.